


A Not So Merry Christmas

by Azahar7



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Shuri (Marvel), BAMF Tony Stark, Christmas Gone Wrong, Christmas Special, Hurt Peter Parker, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Shuri Friendship, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, but don't worry everything's okay, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 10:20:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21967711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azahar7/pseuds/Azahar7
Summary: It's christmas eve at the compound, and everyone's enjoying a little peace and quiet after everything they went through last year.Although Peter Parker is excited to spend christmas among his favourite heroes, he can't quite shake the feeling of something being wrong ever since he arrived. But that's just the nerves, right?Spoiler: It wasn't.Or: The compound is attacked by hydra soldiers, and the team is surprised to learn that is not something they are after, but someone.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Shuri, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 312





	1. Not as planned

**Author's Note:**

> A sort of Christmas fic after Christmas??
> 
> Yeah, why not?
> 
> Sorry about grammar mistakes, I'm not a native english speaker but I swear I did my best. It's also my first fic so tell me what you think*nervous chuckles*

* * *

It was one of those late nights working in the lab when the idea was brought up.

_Peter was tinkering with some of the old Iron man suits while Tony worked on some S.I proyect that Pepper had insisted he had to finish before a meeting tomorrow. Something about an artifact that would revolutionize the sustainable energy industry, that Tony of course, was finishing at 3:00 am, just hours before the presentation. Peter was staying at the compound that night, as he used to do on weekends, so he wasn't really worried about the time._

_"So kid," Tony said, without looking away from his desk. "What are you doing for the holidays?"_

_Peter looked up from his work, a little taken aback by the question._

_"Umm, nothing special really, we were planning on going somewhere with Ned´s family, but his dad got a last minute call from work, so they are not spending the holidays in New York. So my aunt and I will problaby spend christmas eve in our apartment, May will try and cook something for dinner but we will end up ordering some thai instead. Not that I´m complaining."_

_Tony turned his chair to face Peter._

_"_ _So why don´t you come spend christmas eve with us?"_

_Peter dropped the screwdriver he was holding. "What?"_

_"_ _Yeah, I´ll invite the whole super gang so you can fanboy around the christmas tree, May and Pepper can complain about us together, and you won´t have to taste another failed attempt of your aunt's cooking. Think about it, it´s a win-win"_

_Peter's brain malfunction. "Us? At the compound? I mean sure! I would have to ask May though, but she´ll probably say yes, I hope. I´ll convince her, even though I haven´t asked her yet, so I don't even know if she needs to be conviced, and now I´m rambling aren´t I? It´s just... thanks Mr. Stark, it´s gonna be awesome! "_

* * *

_"It´s gonna be awesome! "_ He said.

Well, in his defense, it was awesome, the fist two hours of the night. 

His aunt had to attend an emergency in the hospital and would be a little late, so Happy picked Peter up from his apartment and drove him to the compound. He was greeted by Pepper who took him to a nice living room he hadn't seen before, but was already full of people. The Avengers team was there. In the last months spending more time with Tony, he had known a few heroes (as intern Peter Parker, of course) but he still got starstruck every time he was in the same room as any of them.

Even Shuri had made it, even if King T'Challa had to stay behind to attend some important business in Wakanda. Bucky Barnes had accompanied her. Peter knew he had been pardoned along with the rest of the rogues a while ago, he just didn't expected to see him in the same room as Tony. Guess he would have to ask him later.

Everything was going great. He awkwardly greeted Natasha and Clint, who later left him alone with Shuri and Doctor Banner, when they started talking about _science stuff_. Aunt May had called Happy (weird but okay) so he went to pick her up. He managed to met Thor before he left the party, without fainting by the way (he did scream internally, a lot) and he even offered him a drink, which Tony took from his hand claiming that _twelve years old aren't allowed to drink._

Yeah, everything was going perfect.

Until, of course, Parker Luck had to strike once again.

Around ten o'clock, Friday's voice was heard in the room.

_"Boss. I have detected an unauthorized presence in the surroundings of the compund."_

"What? Happy forgot his security pass?" asked Tony, "With how strict he is with those things I expected better"

Friday spoke again. _"No boss, the presence comes from a larger group, my sensors are detecting at least ten unidentified vehicles"_

This got Tony calling the Iron Man suit, Black Widow and Hawkeye reaching for thier weapons, Captain America and Bucky were preparing to fight and everyone was getting defensive. Peter reached out to check his webshooters when he remembered he couldn't just go full Spider-man here. And even if he could, he only counted with his webshooters, his suit had stayed behind, resting in his closet at his aunt's request (order).

"We were having such a good time" Tony sighed. "I'll go give it a look"

"I'll go wth you" Peter offered and started walking towards him. He had a bad feeling about this. 

Tony quickly grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. "Stay here kid." Then he whispered something only for Peter to hear, "I'm serious Pete, no sticky surprises for christmas this year"

Before Peter could argue, Clint, Natasha and Steve came closer to them. "We'll go with you, Tony" 

Tony stared at the three of them. "Whatever, let's just get those kids out of my garden" 

When they left Pepper announced she'd go downstairs "I'll just go check with security, it's probably nothing"

And so, Shuri, Peter, Doctor Banner and Bucky were left alone.

_Something is wrong._ The feeling was so strong that is was almost physically painful.

Suddenly, Friday spoke once more. _"Initiciating lockdown"_

Everyone looked at each other before an alarm rang throughtout the whole building. Instantly, the windows were covered by a thick metal curtain, leaving the room in total darkness, before a red light lit the space. The compound was on total lockdown, but that couldn't be right. The only people who were authorized to give such order were Tony, Pepper, Peter and some of the Avengers. But all of those people were either outside of the building or in here with Peter.

"Friday" called Peter, "who iniciated lockdown?"

_"Lockdown iniciated"_

"Yeah Fri, I can see that, but who gave the order?"

_"Lockdown iniciated"_ She repeated. Okay, now something is definitely wrong. _"Proceeding with Pesticide control protocol"_

_Wait, what?_

"Oh no" Bruce said, "I know this protocol" As soon as he said that, gas started coming out of the vents all around them. "That thing is designed for security breaches, the gas knocks you out the second you breath it. We never knew the extent of the effect though, it shouldn't even be an option for Friday yet."

"Well that sounds useful" said Bucky. "So how do we stop it?"

"We don't." Bruce looked around the room. The gas was spreading. "Tony's lab is the only place where it cannot reach us, but I am not allowed in there without him"

"I am" Peter said.

"You are?" Bruce stared at him. "He gave his _intern_ access to his lab-?"

"Can we maybe discuss this later?" Shuri interrupted him. "When we aren't, you know, about to be exposed to a probably very dangerous subtance?" 

Bucky turned around and look at Peter. "Lead the way"

That's all they needed to make a run for it. 

Peter ran through the hallway, everyone following close behind. He noticed the hallways was just starting to fill with gas. Someone had chosen the room they were in, and started the protocol there first on purpose. He wondered about Pepper, had she been able to arrive outside before the lockdown? Was she with Tony? Speaking of Tony...

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of steps far ahead.

"Wait" Peter stopped abruptly. "I hear people coming... five, eight, ten... I think there are twelve of them" 

"I hear them too" Bucky said. Then he frowned. "Wait, how did you-?"

Suddenly, the gas started thickening, as more and more was released from the vents, faster every second. The group covered theirselves as they could. Peter considered their options. If they went ahead they would probably encounter whoever was behind this, but they where outnumbered. If they went back they could win some time but they woudn't last more than five minutes. Shuri already seemed weakened by it. And Doctor Banner... if the Hulk appeared while on lockdown... 

He felt a tingle in the back of his neck, and dodged just in time. The dart embedded itself in the wall. Inches away from Peter.

Around the corner of the hallway, appeared armed men, dressed in black, wearing gas masks.

Peter saw Shuri try and reach out for her bracelet, before she fell to her knees. One of men in masks tried to reach her, but Bucky move first. With one punch he took down the guy and throw him to another one of them. Peter tried to fight too, he dodged and atacked as fast as he could, but the gas was taking a tool on them. His movements were slower and his vision was becoming blurry. 

If only he could get a hold of a mask. He just needed to get one to-

One of darts had reached his leg. His senses went numb and he couldn't find the others. He felt someone trying to hold him down, but he kept fighting.

He managed to take two more down before he felt another sting in the back of his neck, and everything went black.


	2. Distraction

* * *

For Tony, everything was going smoothly. 

When he told Pepper he was throwing a christmas party with everyone in the compound, she just looked at him weird. Things hadn't exactly been the best with team, with the whole 'pick a side' disaster. But he had managed to get a hold of the heroes. The majority of them at least. T'challa couldn't make it, and Vision and Wanda were off to who knows where. He had even let Steve bring his buddy Barnes. They had sorted things out months before, kind of, and he had even agreed to help them get pardoned. That didn't change the fact that things were still tense between them.

But hey, watching the starstruck look on the kid's face made it all worth it.

He was enjoying the party. When he told Peter he could fanboy all he wanted, he really took it seriously. He overflowed happiness every time he talked to someone new, and when he finally met Thor, God, he thought he would actually faint.

They were having a good time.

And then Friday had alerted them about an unknown presence.

_I swear to God, if they are paparazzi..._

They arrived to the supposed place of the thread. A little clearing in the far back of the compound. He was preparing for whatever was out there, but to everyone’s surprise, it was completely empty. 

That couldn’t be right. Friday had detected at least ten vehicles and Friday was rarely wrong, unless…

His thoughts were interrupted. Suddenly, men in black gear started to come out of the woods. They were at least twenty of them, all carrying weapons. They charged at them, but they were no match for four Avengers. They easily attacked and subdue the men, working as a team made things even easier.

The fight was over within five minutes. 

“That was a little too easy” Steve said. And he was right, if they were planning to attack the base of the Avengers, they could have at least planned it out better. Most of the men seemed unprepared, staying behind just shooting at them. It was like they hadn’t even been trying to put up a fight.

“Hey, look at this” Clint called. He was holding one of the bullets the men had fired. Except it wasn’t a bullet, it was some kind of dart. “They weren’t even real bullets”

At that moment, Natasha emerged from the bushes, dragging a man behind her. 

She threw him to the ground in front of them. “This one’s still conscious” 

He had a purple eye and a bloody nose, courtesy of the Black Widow. 

Tony knelt beside him. “Did you guys lose a bet or something, cause that was a pretty lame excuse for an attack”

The man said nothing.

"I mean, seriously, I'm even a little bit hurt. Do you think so low of us?"

The man stared at him, with an empty expression on his face. “Our purpose was fulfilled”

“Oh yeah?” Tony asked. “And what purpose was that? Lose a fight in less than five minutes?”

The man ignored his comments, he just grinned. “It doesn’t matter. You are already late Stark, the boss must have crushed that spider by now”

_What?_

“Tony what is he talking about?” Asked Steve. The fake signal, the cheap ambush. This was not random at all, it was all on purpose.

A distraction.

_“The boss must have crushed that spider by now”_

_Peter._

* * *

Peter opened his eyes. Or at least he tried to.

There was a time, back when he was still getting the hang of being Spider-man, that he miscalculated a jump. The web didn't go where he had planned, and he ended up crashing face first into the side of a building. 

Right now, he felt as if he had crashed into a building three times in a row. His head was spinning and his thoughts were all over the place. His vision was blurry and he was pretty sure the black dots he was seeing were not part of the decoration. He was laying on his back facing the ceiling. He tried to turn his head to get a better look of his surroundings but his whole body ached, he could only see the red light, meaning he was still somewhere in the compound.

He was alone. Or so he thought. The thing they injected him with must have been strong. His senses were such a mess, that he hadn't notice a figure standing in the corner of the room. Watching him from the shadows. Peter tried to stand up, only to realise both his hand and feet were tied together. The figure came closer, until he was illuminated by the red light.

"Hello Peter" His vision couldn't focus the face of the man. He was white haired and tall. He wore a lab coat, and was holding a heavy looking suitcase.

Peter tried pulling at his restrains with no success. The man just laughed.

"I wouldn't lose my time with that, spidey."

Peter stopped his struggle and frowned at him.

“Oh yes, we know all about your alter ego" He said "In fact, he is the reason we are here."

"You see Peter," the man walked towards him, "we are working on something big, something that will change the world. But in order to do it, we need the help of people with your... abilities"

Peter spoke to the man for the first time. His voice hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in days "And who exactly is 'we' ?"

The man clicked his tongue.

"Come on Pete, I know we gave you some of the good stuff, but you can do better than that"

He held the suitcase closer to his chest, Peter watched with wide eyes the figure of a skull with tentacles embedded in the front.

_...Hydra?_

"That's correct Peter, I knew you were smart"

_"Wait. Had-had he said that out loud?"_

“Oh that's right I forgot to tell you, we gave you a special something... you might feel a little confused for a while but don't worry, it won't have long term repercussions, it'll only make you more... cooperative.”

Peter's mind tried to wrap up what he was saying. The man knelt beside him.

“Don't worry Pete, this will just be a quick session. By now, they have probably realise the true intention of our visit, so let's hurry up”

The man. _A doctor?, scientist?_ put his suitcase in the floor next to Peter. He opened it and pulled out a syringe. Then from his coat's pocket, he took out some sort of recorder.

“Test number one, subject Spider” He said to it. “Preparing for first dose”

The scientist, Peter had decided, a mad one, took his head and turned it to the side. He tried backing away from his touch but his body woludn't respond to his will.

“Wait, what are you-”

The needle stabs Peter’s neck, and he freezes. For a moment he feels nothing but the discomfort of the syringe leaving his body.

Then it starts.

And he _screams._

His hands curls into fists as he pulls at the restrains with all of the strength he has. Heat courses through him, and suddenly, he goes from not feeling nothing at all, to feel every inch of his body on fire. He can’t think straight. Pain is the only thing he feels and it’s not doing anything but increasing. His eyes are shut, he jerks violently, his body is moving erratically and involuntarily, trying it’s best to get out, to escape from the pain.

_Make it stop!_

He is screaming at the top of his lungs.

For a moment, he thinks he won’t make it through. His pulse is racing he can’t hear anything over the sound of his uncontrolled heartbeat, he feels it in his ears, his head is ready to explode...

Then, just as fast as the pain came, it stops. He is shivering, tears rolling down his cheeks. Peter’s chest rises and falls as he struggles to breath. He is exhausted, barely conscious. 

Beside him, the man in the coat laughs loudly.

“This is perfect!” the scientist exclaims, ‘the first subject to survive the serum, and he is still conscious!” He rests his hand on Peter’s shoulder. He is so weak he can’t even protest.

_Survive..._

_He was expecting me to die... ?_

“This is such a big step in our research, all thanks to you Pete, nice work kid”

_Nice work kid._

Memories flooded his mind. A mission well done, a productive afternoon in the lab, something as simple as a good grade. That’s what Mr. Stark would say to him in every one of those occasion.

_Mr. Stark_

“M.. S..rk..”

The scientist looked at him with expectating eyes “What was that Peter?” 

“....Tony”

The man frowned at him. 

“Oh none of that” He took a look at his suitcase. “Your results certainly surprised me, I wasn’t prepared for the experiment to be so successful, so I don’t have the necessary materials to continue the research” 

He look at Peter, examining him, and he felt his skin crawl.

“I guess you’ll have to accompany us a little longer”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Tell me what you think! Next one probably on Tuesday


	3. Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo... this took longer than expected.

* * *

Peter felt as if he was in another dimension. Not that he had been to another dimension, but he felt extremely confused. And tired, he was ready to pass out anytime now. His eyelids were heavy and the room spinned around him. Sounds were distant and he swore he heard footsteps, a door opening. Was there a door before? 

“Sir” There was a man at the door. Or two? Was he seeing double? Everything was fuzzy. “He is coming back”

With those words, Peter felt how a spark of hope came back to life.

“You had one job!” The scientist almost growled at the man. “Cause a distraction, was it really that hard?!” He looked at his watch and then at Peter, then he violently closed his suitcase.

“Peter” His whole demeanor changed, voice soft again, as is he was talking to a child “Change of plans, I need to go now, but don’t worry.” He knelt beside him, then he gently put a hand on his forehead, and Peter tried his best to lean away from the touch. “We’ll see each other again”

“Take him to the base” He stood up, and then gestured at Peter. “Put him under if necessary”

The door closed. And silence reigned for a moment. Figures approached him, and he felt how he was suddenly lifted from the ground. He was forced to stand up. And two pairs of arms started dragging him towards the door.

_There are two then._

He knew he had to fight. But he just... couldn’t. It was easier it he just let himself be dragged to whatever place they where taking him… 

_Get yourself together!_

His eyes fluttered open as they opened the door, and went into the hallway. The pace of the men was quick and Peter could barely follow it. Tripping every two steps… Wait…

Steps. He was walking. Or at least he was trying to.

_They had untied his feet._

It was now or never. Before they reached the outside of the building, or decided to drug him again. He had to escape, but there was only one problem. He could take down two guys any day, blindfolded, but right now, he had trouble staying conscious. Not to mention the massive headache that was making everything even more complicated.

_Focus! You can’t let them take you!_

He concentrated, trying his best to make the world stop spinning for a moment, regaining his balance. Then, as if he was dead, he dropped to the floor, almost dragging the men with him.

“Excellent.” He heard one of them say. “And now what?”

“Now we carry him” The other one answered. “Unless you wanna go to the boss empty handed” He made a move to lift Peter again, taking him by the arm like before.

_Now!_

With all the strength he could muster, he grabbed the man’s arm and used it to push himself up. His head connected with the man’s face, and a crack was heard followed by a scream. 

“Hit him with the sedatives!” He was holding his bloody nose. Which Peter was sure was broken. Guy number two aimed at him, and adrenaline kicked in once again. He quickly reached the weapon and took it out of the man’s hands. He threw a punch at him, but this one was prepared or maybe he was just too slow. The man dodged his punch and threw one himself, hitting Peter right in the stomach, making him bend in pain. Followed by another one that sent Peter stumbling back. Before the man could reach his weapon, Peter kicked his knees, making him fall.

He stood up, as quickly as he could, the dizziness making his vision go black for a second. And he made a run for it. They had said someone was coming, if he managed to lose them, he could have the chance to find them. He turned around the corner of the hallway and took a few more steps, before he lost his remaining balance, and fell abruptly to the floor. He looked back, just to catch a glimpse of a pair of darts embedded in his skin, just below his right knee. 

He could swear there were laughing at him.

Peter groaned. He was starting to feel the familiar symptoms, adding them to the ones he already had. He put his hands on the floor and pushed himself forward, trying his best to crawl. It was useless though, his body wouldn't respond anymore. They were getting closer, he couldn’t make it. He was losing consciousness.

Suddenly, Peter was blinded by a bright light, and the men went flying across the hallway.

He heard a voice, a familiar clanking. A figure approached him, but Peter had already closed his eyes. He could feel someone shaking him, but not as rough as before. He put a hand under his head, gently lifting it. 

“Peter!” He knew that voice. It was the same voice that had been telling him to fight, to not give up. Peter made one last effort, and looked up.

He was kneeling beside Peter, holding him close to his chest. “Mr. Stark…”

_Damn, was that his voice?_

“Oh thank god” Tony let out a breath. “Don’t worry kid, everything is okay I found you”

He made it. Tony had found him.

He was safe.

“Mr. Stark…” Peter spoke again, every time more difficult to stay awake. He cough a little, but it was enough to turn Tony's relieved expression into a frown. “Yes, Pete”

“The others..” He needed to know what had happened. But... what was he talking about again?

Tony seemed to get it. “Don’t worry, they are fine. Just a little dizzy. Cap is taking them to the medbay as we speak.”

“That’s... good.” Peter closed his eyes and let his head fall back. He wanted to keep talking to Tony, he just needed to rest. 

“Kid, open your eyes, I need you to look at me. Peter, don’t fall asleep” 

Peter didn't understand. Why did he sound so worried? He was trying to. Really. But the adrenaline that had helped him earlier was gone. Tony wanted him to stay awake, but he was just so exhausted. His whole body was telling him to just let go, and Peter couldn’t resist it anymore. He was consumed by darkness, with a voice in the distance trying to bring him back.

* * *

The first thing he noticed was that he was surrounded by white. Peter had woken up in an unknown room. Again. Confusion overcame him and hundred of possibilities formed a turmoil in his head. He started panicking for a moment before a voice took him out of his thoughts. 

“Hey, kid.” He turn his head to his side and saw Tony sitting next to him. “You took your sweet time.”

_Safe._

His muscles relaxed and he let out a breath he didn’t even realized he was holding.

“Mr. Stark...?” His throat was dry. Peter started coughing and Tony passed him the glass of water next to him. 

“Take it easy, I don’t want you choking on my watch.” Tony took the glass away and waited for Peter to calm down, then he helped him into a sitting position.

“Where I am?” He asked. He had a solid guess by now, but he just wanted to hear it. To have the reassurance it was really okay.

“When we found you, we brought you to the medbay.” Tony explained. “You were unconscious, in a pretty bad shape and we just couldn’t wake you up”

Tony's eyes got dark, as if he was reliving the moment, before Peter spoke.

“Don't worry about it. That's one way to celebrate Christmas I guess” Peter said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Tony shifted in his seat. Uncomfortable. “Yeah, about that. Peter, today is kinda… New Year's eve.”

_WHAT?!_

“What?! Wait, I slept a whole week?!” Peter almost jumped out the bed. If it wasn't for Tony who stopped him.

“You did." He said. "We were really worried. Especially me, I thought your aunt would chop my head off”

“My aunt..”

“Don’t worry, she went to change but she’s on her way” They looked at each other and silence reigned in the room.

“Mr Stark” After what felt like an eternity, Peter spoke. “The scientist.. those people were after me.”

  
  


“I know” Tony sighed, ”and that man, he.. he managed to escape. We caught his soldiers but there were just that. They were hired to cause a distraction, they knew nothing about his real plans.” 

“He said he was looking for people with my abilities” Peter’s mind returned to that moment, trying his best to organize his memories. “And then he injected me with something, I don’t know what it was, but it was awful, I felt like I was dying”

  
  


Tony froze, for a moment. Then he regained his posture.

  
  


“Doctors found traces of an unknown substance in your system. The thing they injected you with messed with your freaky powers. Your body was fighting against extreme exhaustion, and his response: take a nap. Seriously, you are a weird one. Your heart rate dropped to hell, and your metabolism just turn down. Bruce described it as hibernation. Now kid, I know you take your theme seriously but damn, you really _hibernated_ , that caught us off guard.” 

  
  


That made Peter smile a little. But he turned serious again.

  
  


“Mr Stark.. I’m sor- ”

  
  


“Don’t.” Tony interrupted him before he could finish. “This isn’t, by any chance, your fault. The man who did this to you got away. I should be the one apologizing. ”

  
  


At that moment, the door was slammed open, and May came rushing through it. She moved Tony aside, ignoring him completely, and went straight for Peter’s bed. She hugged him. Tight.

  
  


“I was so worried. I’m so glad you woke up baby” Peter made strangled noises and May seemed to get them, because she let go of him almost instantly.

  
  


“Oh right, sorry honey.”

  
  


He looked behind May and saw a man standing awkwardly in the back of the room. “Doctor Banner, you are okay” 

  
  


“I should be the one saying that. I’m glad to see you up Peter” Bruce cleared his throat and gave Tony a sign.

Tony stood up and followed Bruce. “I’ll leave you two alone for a moment.”

  
  


Bruce stepped out of the room and Tony closed the door behind them.

  
  
  


“Have you taken a look at Friday yet?” Asked Banner.

  
  


“Hello to you too” Bruce said nothing, waiting for an answer. Tony rolled his eyes. “They overrode Friday, Bruce. I’ve been with Peter most of the time, for the moment, I took her out of the compound’s system, she’s on time out until I can check what happened”

  
  


“Well, Pepper’s been at it with your security team.” Said Bruce. “And it seems she was hacked by someone from the inside”

  
  


That caught Tony’s attention. Even though he had designed it, he knew Friday wasn’t impenetrable. It had happened before. But for someone from the inside to modify her programming...

  
  


“We don’t know what they wanted but-”

  
  


“I do.” Tony interrupted. “Peter told me the man was looking for people with his abilities.”

  
  
  


“Yeah, we also need to talk about that Tony. How come you forgot to mention that your intern was actually Spider-man?”

  
  


“Oh, hadn’t I mentioned it before?” Bruce just frowned at him.

  
  


“Okay, guilty” He put his hands up, “But that’s just it Bruce, nobody knew about him, except for a handful of people. His name is nowhere in the files. And the kid is super serious about this whole secret identity deal.”

  
  


Bruce sighed. “Everyone’s working on it, don’t worry we’ll help you figure it out” He started walking towards the door when Tony stopped him. 

“What about Peter?”

  
  


“I’m just gonna give him a quick check up and then he can go home I guess.”

  
  


“Really?”

  
  


“Yeah, I mean, his vitals have been normal for days, and the drugs are out of his system, we were just waiting for him to wake up to make sure everything was really okay”

  
  


Banner went to open the door, but Tony just stood there. Bruce put a hand on his shoulder.

  
  


“Don’t worry Tony, he is a strong kid. He’ll be okay”

* * *

Peter was released from the medbay that afternoon. Free to go home. Walking as if nothing had happened. Just as Bruce had said. He looked normal, laughing with his aunt. Tony and Pepper were accompanying them to the car that was waiting for them outside.

  
  


“So what are your plans for the rest of the night.” Tony couldn’t stopped himself, not that he had tried to, ”I mean, it’s New Year’s eve after all”

  
  


May sent him a glare, but it wasn’t as deadly as before. “I think we’ve had enough celebrations.” she gave Peter a one armed hug. “So we’re just gonna head home.”

  
  


“Yeah I guess you could do that” Tony said. Pepper looked at him, then he looked at Peter, and they smirked at each other “Or…”

* * *

  
  


_Or we could celebrate here. No. Don’t give me that look May, I’m talking about something small, stay in the living room, watch TV, maybe even a toast, if you’re feeling wild. But that’s it._

_We’ll keep it simple._

  
  


They didn’t.

Tony didn’t meant for it to happen. He called Rhodey and Happy of course. But he ended up telling Bruce, who told Natasha, who told Steve and Barton, who brought his whole family. (Tony sweared there were more kids every time he saw them). And suddenly, everyone was there, sitting in the living room, watching TV and laughing. Everyone greeted Peter. Now that the truth was out. He seemed more relaxed. At some point, Clint asked Peter if he could really stick to things.

And that's how Peter ended up stuck to the wall with three kids clinging on to him.

Tony approached them. “Hey kids, can I borrow him a little bit?”

Peter slowly climbed down. Barton’s crew made a disappointed sound and reluctantly got off.

“What’s up Mr. Stark?” 

“Follow me kid” Tony walked towards the balcony with Peter behind. When they reached it, he took a box out of his pocket.

  
  


“You know, with you sleeping through Christmas and all that, I didn’t have a chance to give you your gift”

Just as Tony expected. Peter was quick to refuse. “Mr. Stark you’ve already given me too much”

“Come on kid, take it, I made it specially for you, I won’t take a no for an answer” Peter gave him a look, but he couldn’t hide his smile as he took the box. Inside, there was a slim, black watch.

“Thanks Mr. Stark. I really appreciate it” Peter took it out of the box, and was about to put it on his wrist when he stopped. “So you made it as in built it yourself?”

“Of course” Said Tony.

“Hmm” Peter looked at him and then at the gift again. “And it’s just a watch right?”

“Yep, just a boring ass watch, What? Were you expecting a car or something?”

Peter started playing with it, as if he was trying to open it. “So you don’t mind if I take a look inside the…”

Tony quickly grabbed Peter’s hands to stop him from whatever he was about to do. “Okay, it’s more than a watch, just… don’t mess with it, geez”

Tony’s nails were suddenly interesting and he said almost reluctantly. “It has a tracker”

Peter was ready to complain but Tony raised a finger threateningly at him. “Nope. I won’t hear it”

“But Mr. Stark!” Peter whined. “It’s like the training wheels protocol all over again”

“Look Peter, I’m not doubting your capability to look after yourself, but after what happened... “ Tony sighed. “Please Peter, that man is still out there, and they know who you are”

_“We’ll see each other again”_

Those words echoed in Peter’s head.

“If not for yourself do it for your aunt. For me. We worry about you, we… I need you to be safe.”

_“I felt like I was dying”_

Tony put that memory aside and offered the watch once again. “Please, will you wear it?”

For a moment, Tony thought the kid would actually refused. But Peter just looked at him and sighed. Then, he proceed to put the watch on his wrist. “I understand, and I won’t lie. The thought of never seeing you again… What happened was really scary. And if it weren’t for you… I’m just grateful to have people looking out for me”

Then Tony did what he had wanted to do since the moment he found him in that hallway that night. He hugged Peter. Not an awkward, half-hearted hug, like the ones they had shared before. But a sincere one. As if he was trying to express all of his feelings through it, as if he was still trying to convince himself that he was really here. Safe. Then, Peter slowly returned the gesture and Tony felt as if years of worries had just been washed away.

  
  


They stayed like that, until the noise caught their attention. Inside, the party was just starting, the whole room was in uproar as the clock reached twelve. “Come, we are missing all the fun” Said Tony.

They starting walking towards the door and Peter studied his new watch. “Was if I want to take a shower?”

Tony gave him a look. “It’s waterproof”

  
  


“What if I drop it from like, a building?”

  
  


“It’s made of really resistant materials”

  
  


“What about fire?”

  
  


“It withstands extreme temperatures”

“Oh yeah? What about..”

  
  


The sound of fireworks dulled their voices. As they entered the room everyone gathered around them, May hugged Peter, who then was tackled by an army of tiny humans. He saw him smiling, enjoying this moment, as he would enjoy all the moments to come. Tony would make sure of that. 

He made a resolution. Wherever he was, he was going to find that man. Whatever the circumstances, he would protect Peter. 

  
  


He would protect his kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I know it's already January and all that, but, for what it's worth, happy New Year!!

**Author's Note:**

> If you still want to read, thank you! Second chapter will be ready probably tomorrow night


End file.
